Process of crushing hard materials



May 12, 1925. 1,537,565

E; B. SYMONS PROCESS OF QRUSHING HARD MATERIALS Filed May 15. 1924 2Sheets-Sheet l g awvm May 12, 1925.

E. B. SYMONS PROCESS OF CRUSHING HhRD MATERIALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMay 15. 1924 Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR B. SYMONS. OF HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SYMONS BROTHERSCOMPANY, OF BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

PROCESS OF CRU'SHIN'G HARD MATERIALS.

Application filed May 15, 1924. Serial No. 713,397.

To all 10. mm it may concern:

Be .it known that I, EDGAR B. Simmons, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hollywood, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inProcesses of Crushing Hard Materials, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a process of crushing hard materials andparticularly to a process of crushing materials such as stone,

wherein materials drop freely through the crushing zone, and freely passtherethrough by gravity, being periodically interrupted b a successionof crushing impacts. One object of my invention is the provision of acrushing process wherein the materials shall be crushed to a uniformgrade, and wherein there shall be aminimum of degradation or productionof fine or understandard particles in ordinary crushing. Another objectis the provision of a crushing process wherein the materials arerelatively scattered or divided as they pass through the crushing zone,and wherein the crushing action of one particle upon another is reducedto a minimum. Another object is the provision of a method of crushing toany desired degree of fineness. Other objects will appear from time totime in the course of the specification and claims.

1' illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in theaccompanying drawings, 'wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical section;

Figure 2 is a detail section showing a modified form of mechanism forcarrying out my process; and j Figure 3 is a diagrammat-icalillustration of the crushing process.

Like parts are illustrated by like characters throughout thespecification and draw- 1n is is a bed which rests upon the frameAoutwardly flanged as at A for stiffness, and provided at its top with areinforcing'flange A. A A are radial bearing arms extending inwardlyfrom the frame A to support a rigid bearing sleeve A. of this bearingsleeve carries a; gear case A from which projects laterally the hori-One side RElSSUED zontal sleeve A projecting from the frame.

The sleeve A terminates in a gear case A which is formed by a flange Aprojecting outwardly from the body of the sleeve A inclosed by thebearing cap A, there being an oil tight packing A between this cap andthe top of sleeve A The sleeve A is pro- A on the flanged upper end ofthe lining A a to support the downward thrust caused by the weight ofthe eccentric and its associated parts. B is a ring gear bolted orriveted to the underside of the flange B surrounding the upper end ofthe bearing A and located within the gear case A. B is a bevel pinion inmesh with the gear B mounted on the drive shaft B which shaft rotates ina bearing B carried by the two part split adjustable bearing su port B,which support is outwardly tapered and feathered in the sleeve A". Thetwo parts of the bearin support are adapted to be forced inward ly toadjust the bearing by means of feed screws B in the capB which cap isbolted in place to close the open end of the sleeve A". B is a beltpulley, keyed to the shaft B.

The bearing cap A has at its upper side a spherical bearing surfacewhich supports a segmental ball member C having a babball above referredto. It has a skirt- C i extending downwardly below the ball hearing andis provided immediately .below the bearing covered by the skirt with aflange C", having a spherical surface concentrlc with the ball bearingengaging an oil packing ring 0 in a-spherical surface on the cap A whichsurface is also concentric withthe ball bearing. C is a shaft mounted inthe cone, tapered and locked by the compression ring G and the nuts 0.This shaft extends down through the cap f making a close fit with thebabbitt surface G on the inside of the eccentric sleeve B, so that whenthe sleeve is rotated the shaft will be gyrated and cause the cone togyrate on its spherical bearing. f

D -'s a conical mantle of manganese steel or other suitable materialcarried on the cone supported by packing D? of zinc or the like. D isaconical plug adapted to engage the upper portion of the mantle D tohold it in place. This plugis held down by means of the nut D which iscovered by'the cap D held in place by the set Screw D.

E is a conical spider having a cylindrical flange E adapted to penetrateand be vertically adjustable in the frame A It is provided withreinforcing ribs E and three laterally extending lugs E Adjusting boltsE are screw threaded in bosses E on the ring A and pass through the lugsE The lugs E are counter sunk at E and supporting nuts E andlocking nutsE have conical surfaces to engage these countersunks so that when thenuts E have been .slacked off the nuts E may be rotated to spider isoutwardly flared above the cone to provide a funnel or hopper to guide.the material to be crushed into the crushing area.

In order to regulate the feed to the crushmg zone, I provide a feedplate I illus- I trated as slightly conical. though the character of itssurface will depend largely on the material to be fed, the rateofgyration and the like, and under some circumstances it may be flat.This feed plate is mounted upon a supporting cap- I bolted to a lug I;

projecting upwardly from the end of the crushing shaft C" and having anapron I to rotect and inc-lose the plates on the shaft.

TlllS feed plate is located above the center of gyratlon of the crusherand isin line with a feed spout I, which spout may be moved to and fromthe plate to adjust the space between the lower extremity of the spIll.- and the plate so as to control the flow of material through thespout around and 0a the periphery of the plate. The spout I? iscontacted byan upper lateral extension I adapted to communicate with asupply pipe orchute If whereby materialmaybe. I fed to the machine. Anysuitabledirect-ing' or deflecting means may be used to directthe 7material from the plate through the crushing zone. for example thetelescoping cylindrical shell; fornied of'the sectionsI I which may besupported in any suitable manner upon the splder. for example by thespider-arms Ix ad ustable .upon the Screw threaded studs Kt by means ofthe adjusting nuts K K X indicates the center of oscillation of thecrusher head.

The operationof my invention is as follows:

The crushing process which I perform with the apparatus herein disclosedmay be carried out with other apparatus, and I do not wish to be limitedto the use of the apparatus shown. However, I have developed a mechanismwhich is well adapted for the carrying out of the process, and whichworks as follows:

When the machine is set up as shown in the drawings and the drive shaftis rotated, it rotates the eccentric sleeve and thereby causes theeccentric shaft to gyrate or wab- 'ble. Theleccentric shaft in turngyrates the conic crushing head which rocks or gyrates on its largespherlcal bearing. The head,

in response to the movement of the eccentric sleeve and the eccentricshaft, gyrates about a point adjacent the apex of the cone, this centralpoint being determined by the curvature of the spherical bearing. As thehead gyrates, the point of closest approach between head and concavetravels about the concave.

The material to be crushed is fed in from above. falling freely undergravity into the crushing space between the concave and the cone. As thecone gyrate's', material will be wedged or pinched between itand theconcave, and each particle as soon as ithas been crushed, will commenceto fall freely away from the concave, the distance of its fall dependingon the' relation between the ac- .faster than the material can drop.Since the cone is withdrawn from beneath the material which has justbeen crushed, the particles will fall vertically downwardly from theconcave until they again strike the. cone, and they will then bedeflected by the inclination of the cone and will slide downwardly andoutwardly along the cone.

Meanwhile, the cone returns again towardthe concave. carrying with ittoward the concave the particles which have dropped upon the cone andwhich are sliding downits surface. \Vhen the cone reaches a point atwhich the distance between its surface and the concave -is-equal to thediameter of the particles sliding down the cone then the downwardmovement of the particles ceases and they are again crushed. Thisalternate lateral conveying, crushing, vertical drop and lateralconveying continues until the particles being crushed have escaped fromthe crushing zone and pass downwardly across the lower edge of the cone.

Tl1lS action is diagrammatically shown in Flgure 3, wherein'a--h is thefixed surface of the concave. rj indicates the line of closest approachof cone to concave, and zZ the line of farthest recessionof cone fromconcave. The line w-s represents the cross section of the materialcrushed at the first crushing impact, being the minimum distance betweencone and concave at the point adjacent the top of the cone where theparticle being crushed was caught between cone and concave and crushed.In other words, */-s is the first reduction, and represents the size towhich the material is reduced by the first crushing impact. As the coneis withdrawn from r-j to 2 Z the material of the size l''-8 dropsvertically away from the concave and is finally received by the cone,striking it, for example at the point f and extending outwardly from theface of the cone to the point g. The motion of the particle until itstrikes the cone is simply a vertical drop. When it is again in contactwith the cone its motion is a compound one, since it slides downward lyand outwardly along the inclined surface of the cone and is at the sametime laterally conveyed by the cone towards the concave. It continuesthis motion until it is carried so far laterally by the cone as again tocontact the concave. Its position at this point is indicated in Figure 3by the line 'vp which is equal to r.s', since the article has not beenreduced since its reduction at 1"-s. But since the distance between coneand concave at their nearest approach decreases from top to bottom ofthe cone, the distance 11- is greater than the minimum distance betweencone and concave at that point, and

the cone continues its lateral excursion, re-,

ducing the particle to the size op. It is again withdrawn and theparticle, sized to 0p, drops vertically away from the concave, only tobe caught again by the cone slides therealong and is carried againlaterally toward the concave for further reduction. The crushingsequence through which each particle passes is therefore as follows:

An initial drop under the influence of gravity into the s ace betweencone and concave; contact with the cone: a sliding downwardly along thecone during the lateral movement of the cone; a crushing impactterminating this lateral and sliding movement upon the cone; a verticaldrop directly downwardly from the concave at the termination of thecrushing impact; a further slide along and lateral excursion with thecone; a further crushing impact terminating it, and so on until thereduction is completed. V

In order to obtain a positive sizing for the particles so crushed, Iprovide a zone of parallelism about the bottom of the cone and concave,in which the opposed walls of the crushing elements are parallel. lengthof the zone of parallelism is governed by two main factors; first, thespeed imparted to the material by gravity, gravity eingv a constantforce, and second, the interval of time between the crushing impacts,during which the material is permitted to drop as, it is released by theincreasing distance between the opposed cone and concave, and duringwhich it slides along the cone prior to the crushing nip. The intervalof time is governed by the speed of operation of the machine. The lengthof the zone, of parallelism must be such that all the material passingtherethrough will remain in the zone so long as to be caught at leastonce by the cone and the concave at the moment of their closestapproach. The maximum distance between concave and cone is far greaterthan the ultimate size of the material crushed. This must be so, sincein fine reduction crush-- The.

In any crushing process, a certain amount of degradation or fines willbe, produced. I reduce the fines to a minimum, however, since as theparticles drop from' the concave and are received upon the cone, theyspread out upon the surface of the cone and slide or roll freelydownwardly thereupon. Thus when the material is crushed the particlesare not superposed upon each other or compacted, but are freely spread,and

the larger particles project farther from the surface of the cone thanthe smaller andare crushed first. Particles which have, for anyreason,been crushed at the preceding crushing impact to a size less than theminimum distance between cone and concave at the next impact, are notcrushed at all thereby.

The total throw of the head is divided into a lateral conveyingexcursion and a 'crushing excursion. The actual crushing excursion issubstantially smaller than the lateral conveying excursion. IFurthermore, its length in relation to the conveying excursion decreasesprogressively from top to bottom of the cone, as the material is;successively reduced, and, as in the form of crusher. 7

herein shown, the movement of the crushing surface increases. Thus 1IIfine crushmg,

relatively large fragments of material are progressively reduced, and,as they pass downwardly between cone and concave, at each conveyingexcursion the point at which they come in contact with the concave isnearer and nearer the termination of the throw of the head. The throw ofthe head at the bottom of the cone may exceed two and one-half inches,whereas when the crusher.

is set to crush one-quarter of an inch or less,

the actual final crushing excursion may itself be not over one-quarterof an inch in length. Consequently, the arc of simultaneous crushingopposition of'the opposed crushing elements decreases progressively fromtop to bottom of the crushing zone. It is less than 180 at the top ofthe crushing zone and may amount to but a few degrees at the bottom, incase of fine crushing. Since the head itself gyrates about a pointadjacent the top of the cone, and since the cone gyrates upon aspherical bearing suring zone.

therefore find it advantageous to control and limit the feed of materialto the crush- As an example of means for controlling the feed for acrusher of the type I have herein illustrated, I have illustrated a feedspout anda feed plate, the feed plate.

' being positioned above the cone and gyrating with it. the feed spoutbeing centrally aligned with the plate and cone and being verticallyadjustable in relation thereto.

In operation the feed spout is constantly filled with material anddelivers a column of material which rests upon the plate I. The progressof the column is arrested by the plate, which thus positively governsthe feed to the crusher; The material will be drawn from the bottom ofthe column and fed through the space below the feed plate and into thecrushing zone, at a rate depending upon the inclination of the surfaceof the feed plate, and the rate of gyration of the crushing head, bothof which are normally fixed, and the distance between the feed plate andthe spout or chute, which can be adjusted by the operator. The inclina.tion of the plate is preferably but not neces-'.

sarily such that the high side of the plate is level.

As the feed plate is gyrated and laterally displaced about its center,it will retain its general perpendicularity to the axis of. the

crushing shaft, and it therefore will be progressively tilted. -Thiswill result in feeding from about the periphery of the feeding.

plate a relatively thin stream of material, which will be fed or droppeddown through the open space beneath the plateto the crushing zone. Sincethe gyration is at high speed, and the stream of material comparativelythin, I can Supply a measured and controlled "olume of material fallingconstantly down into the crushing zone and impinging upon the surface ofthe crushing head. The point of maximum feed of material over the edgeof the plate rotates about the plate as the plate is gyrated. The streamthus fed may, under some conditions, be cylindrical in cross section,although of unequal thickness. In such case thepoint of maximumthickness'of the cylinder wall will rotate in response to the gyrationof the plate. '01 the material may actually escape over the edge of theplate only about a more or less limited and constantly shifting arc.

This depends upon the vertical adjustment of the feed spout I inrelation to the feed plate. In practice, most of this material will dropupon the upper inclined surface of the spider above the crushing zone,and will flow downwardly and inwardly therefrom until it strikes thecrushing head. It will then be carried by the head against the con- ,7

cave for the first crushing impact. Whereas the feeding means shownherein is perfectly practical, nevertheless I might control'my feed byother mechanical means. Whatever the means he used, however, it isimportant that the feed be adjustable. and that it beconstant whenadjusted. While under-feeding will not normally affect the operation ofmy process, save as it reduces the volume crushed, over-feeding must beprevented. I may adjust my feed to allow for variations in size of thecrushed product, and variations in the material crushed.

In its broad outline and dissociated from the specific crushingapparatus hereln described and shown, my process consists in feeding acontrolled stream of material of restricted volume between two opposedcrushing elements, one of-which is prefer ably fixed and the other ofwhich is moved periodically toward and away from the fixed element. Thecrushing surface of the fixed element is preferably overhanging, and thesurface of the moving element is preferably inclined, both to theoverhanging fixed element and to the course of the material as it dropsby gravity through the crushing zone.

Material is fed by gravity into the crushing zone between the opposedcrushingelements, the stream being controlled to prevent the filling ofthe crushmgzone and the packing of material therein, since it isessential for the carrying out of my process that the ma.- terial maydrop freely by gravity into and through the crushing zone, except so faras .the course of the material being crushedis impeded or interrupted bythe successive conveying excursions and crushing impacts of the movingelement. The opposed crushing members are preferably, though notnecessarily, provided with a zone of para-llelism through which theparticles must pass before they can escape from the crushing zone. I

Thus each particle as it passes through the crushing zone of my processmoves or is operated upon in three different ways. Part of the time itdrops by gravity, part of the time it slides freely along an inclinedsurface, and part of the time it is undergoing a reduction during actualcrushing contact. Substantially all particles are at all timesundisturbed, and relatively unaffected by the association with otherparticles, in that they are either dropping freely under the influenceof gravity, or are able to sort themselves freely as they drop upon andare scattered upon the surface of the moving crushing element, andfinally are crushed only so far, in the main, as each individualparticle is itself in contact with both of the opposed crushingsurfaces.

I claim as my invention:

1. The process of crushing material, which consists in feeding suchmaterial by gravity between a pair of opposed crushing elements, andcausing all particles of the material to fall by gravity therebetweentoward the discharge opening, .in successively interrupting the drop ofsuch material and in supporting it upon and carrying it laterally uponone of said elements toward the opposed crushing element, while incontact with only the carrying element, in terminating such lateralexcursion with a crushing impact, and cans ing all particles of thematerial to drop freely under gravity upon the first\of said elements,after such crushing impacts, again conveying them laterally thereupon inan excursion terminating in the succeeding crushing impact, anddischarging the finally reduced material by gravity from the crushingzone.

2. The process of crushing material which consists in feeding materialby gravity be.-

tween a pair of opposed crushing members,

one fixed and one moving, in causing to move downwardly across thecrushing surface of the moving member a layer ofmaterial of a 3. Theprocess of crushing material which consists in feeding it by gravitybetween a pair of opposed crushing members, one fixed and one moving, incausing the material to flow downwardly across the surface of the movingmember in substantially a single layer of particles, in interrupting thedownward flow of the material by a succession of crushing impacts, andin causing the material to drop freely under gravity, after each suchimpact, upon the moving member.

4. The process of crushing material which i I posed members for acrushing impact, in delivering the crushing impact simultaneousl aboutan arc of substantially less than 180 and in moving such are of impactrapidly about the circumferences of the opposed members.

5. The process of crushing material which consists in feeding it bygravity between a pair of opposed crushing members, having facescircular in cross-section, one positioned within the other, in causingthe mate'rlal to flow freely under gravity, between said members, inintermittently interrupting the fiow of material by catching it betweenthe opposed members for a crushing impact, in delivering the crushingimpact simultaneously about an arc of substantially less than 180 at thetop of said membersfland sub- Y stantially less than 90 at the bottom ofsaid members, and in moving such arcs of impact rapidly about thecircumferences of the opposed members.

6. The process of crushing material which i consists in feeding it bygravity between'a fixed overhanging crushing element and an opposedmoving element, and causing all parportim contact with the material, anddropfreely under gravity upon v ping the material the moving memberafter such crushing impacts. thickness substantially less than thedistance i. The process of crushing material, which consists in feedingsuch material by gravity ticles of the material to fall freely by grav-I ity therebetween, in interrupting the drop' between a pair of opposedcrushing elements,

and causing all fall by gravity tierebetween, in successivelyinterruptingthe drop of such material and in supporting it upon andcarrying it laterally upon one of said elements toward the opposedcrushing element, while /in contact with only the carrying element, interminating such lateral excursion with a crushing impact, and causingall particles of tl enna articles of the material to a terial to dropfreely under gravity upon the first of said elements, after suchcrushing impacts, and again conveying them laterally thereupon in anexcursion terminating in the succeeding crushing impact, and insuccessively increasing the distance through wlnch the material islaterally conveyed prior to the crushing impact, in relation to thelength of the actual crushing excursion, as it passes through thecrushing zone.

8. The process of crushing material, which consists in feeding it bygravity between apair of opposed crushing elements, and causing allparticles of the material to fall by gravity therebetween, ininterrupting the flow of the material between such elements by asuccession of crushing impacts, in causing the material to drop freelyunder gravity, and scattering it across the surface of one of saidelements after such crushing impacts, and conveying it laterally, whileit is being scattered, in an excursion terminating in the succeedingcrushing impact.

9. The process of crushing material which consists in feeding it bygravity between opposed crushing elements, and in restricting the feedof the material in relation to the timing of the crushing strokes, anddelivering it across the crushing surface of one of said elements in alayer which is at all points throughout the crushing zone ofsubstantially less depth than the distance between the crushing elementsat their maximum recession.

10. The process of crushing material which consists in feeding'it bygravity between opposed crushing elements, and in restricting the feedof the material in relation to the timing of the crushing strokes, anddelivering it across the crushing surface of one of said elements in alayer which is .at all points throughout the crushing zone ofsubstantially less depth than the distance between the crushing elementsat their maximum recesslon, and in decreasing the depth of the layer inrelation to the distance of maximum recession of the opposed elements,progressively from top to bottom of the crushing zone.

1 1. The process of crushing material, whlch consists in passing it bygravity between an inclined overhanging fixed crush ng surface and anopposed moving crushmg surface inclined thereto and to the path of thematerial as it drops between the crushing surfaces, successivelycatching the material upon the moving surface. as it drops by gravity,conveying it laterally' thereupon against the fixed surface, causingeach particle thereof to drop freely away from said fixed surface inresponse to grav- 1ty after each such crushing impact, and in deliverinit by gravity, after the last of such latera excursions, to a secondarycrushing zone having a. substantially umwhich consists in maintaining astorage body of the material to be crushed at a point above the crushingzone, in feeding the material thence by gravity between a pair ofopposed crushing members, and limiting the feed of material therebetweento a layer of a thickness substantially less than the distance betweenthe opposed crushing members when the moving members is at its maximumretraction, in interrupting the flow of the material between the opposedmembers by a plurality of crushing impacts, and in causing each particleto drop freely after such crushing impact upon the moving members, andin again conveying it laterally in an excursion terminating in asucceeding crushing impact.

13. The process of crushing material, which consists in maintaining astorage body of the material to be crushed at a point above the crushingzone, in feeding the material thence by gravity between a pair ofopposed crushing members, and in moving the points of maximum feed fromsaid storage body progressively about the circumference thereof, andlimiting the feed such crushing impact upon the moving member, and inagain conveying it laterally in an excursion terminating in a succeed- 7ing crushing impact...

14. The' process of. crushing material which consists in maintaining astorage body of the material to be crushed at a point above the crushingzone, in feeding the material thence to a crushing zone defined by amoving cone and a fixed concave,

in moving the omt of maximum feed from the storage bo y to the crushingzone progressively about the circumference of the crushing zone, incausing the material to flow by gravity between the opposed cone andconcave in a layer substantially thinner than the maximum distancebetween cone and concave throughout the crushing zone, in successivelyinterrupting the drop of the material and in supporting it upon andcarrying it laterally upon the cone toward the concave, while in contactonly with the cone, in terminating such lateral excursion with acrushing impact, in cans ing all particles to drop freely under gravityupon the cone after such crushing impacts, and again conveying themlaterally in excursions terminating in crushing impacts.

Signed at Los Angeles' county of Los 10 Angeles and State of California,this 25th day of April, 1924.

EDGAR B. sYMoNs.

